time traveling boy
by doodlechick12
Summary: It starts when he's six; one moment he's sitting in his mother's lap and the next he's staring up at a man claiming to be his brother. Or, six times Damon Salvatore travels through time. AU
1. Damon

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Time Traveler's Wife or The Vampire Diaries. No knowledge of the Time Traveler's Wife is necessary.**

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**It starts when he's six; one moment he's sitting in his mother's lap and the next he's staring up at a man claiming to be his brother.**

**Or, five times Damon Salvatore travels through time.**

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**Damon is 6; Stefan is 20**

It starts when he's six years old. He's sitting in his mama's lap as she reads him his favorite book of the week (it's always changing) and in his Thomas the Tran pajamas, snuggling up to her. He blinks and when he opens his eyes again, he's sitting in their living room across from a man who looks a little his Mama and Daddy.

The man blinks at Damon and gives him a soft smile.

"Hi Damon," He says and he reaches for a pile of clothes that are sitting next to him, "Here."

Damon looks down at himself and notices as that he's not wearing any clothes at all. He looks up at the man and snatches the garments from him, but instead of putting them on, demands, "Who are you? And why are you in my house?"

The man grins, "I'm Stefan and your brother, and you're in the future. You told me to meet you here a while ago – so you wouldn't be afraid when you first Traveled."

"If this is the future, where am I?" Damon asks suspiciously, because his Mama has always told him not to talk to strangers, and even if this man says he's his brother, he'd best be careful anyway.

"You're older self is Traveling," Stefan says easily.

It occurs to Damon that he doesn't have a brother.

"I don't have a brother," Damon tells Stefan.

Stefan's eyes crinkle in the corners as his smile widens. "You will," He promises, "I'll be born in 1992."

Damon is still suspicious (he's heard his Daddy call him cynical – he's not sure what that means) but he stands to put the clothes on.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Turn around," Damon commands the man that may or may not be his brother, "I'm not getting dressed in front of you."

"Of course not," Stefan said and stands, turns around, covers his eyes, "Okay."

Damon slips on his underwear and then his pants and shirt. He leaves the socks and shoes alone because he doesn't want to wear Transformers sneakers.

"I'm ready," Damon announces, "You can open your eyes now."

Stefan turns back around and uncovers his eyes, asking, "Do you want something to eat? I find that Older Damon is always hungry after he Travels."

Damon notices that his belly is rumbling so he nods eagerly. Stefan leads him into the kitchen and Damon notices how the house looks different than it usually does. There are new pictures on the walls, a lot of which include the man Stefan and another man that looks a like Damon – only older.

He also sees lots of girls and makes a face. Stefan sees the picture he's looking at that moment – a girl with long pin straight brown hair – and he laughs at Damon's expression. Indignant, Damon fists up his hands and puts them on his hips.

"What's so funny?"

"You don't like that pretty lady?" Stefan asks as his green eyes twinkle with mirth.

"Girls are icky," Damon whispers loudly and Stefan laughs, though the little boy can't see why. Girls have cooties, after all.

"That's not what you think when you're older," Stefan says with a grin.

"Then I'm not very smart in the future," Damon frowns, upset that he seems to get dumber with age. He'll have to fix that. "What are we eating?"

"A PB&J sandwich," Stefan says as he sits Damon into a chair and goes to the fridge, "Mom used to say that you'd eat then all the time when you were little." He ruffles through it and sets out peanut butter, jelly, and a package of bread.

Damon gets ready for some food but feels a tingly sensation – everywhere.

"Stefan-" He starts to say, worried, but he blinks.

When Damon opens his eyes again, he's sitting on the floor, next to Mama's feet. She swoops down and hugs him and murmurs into his ears that she was terrified, and where had he been?

"I met my little brother," Damon confides, "Only he was bigger than me. His name is Stefan, Mama."

**Damon is 24, Stefan is 5**

Damon is kissing his girlfriend and then he is not.

He's sitting in a park stark naked, hidden by a bush. He peeks over the shrubbery and sees Stefan running around, giggling with his friends Lexi and Caroline. The little boy catches sight of Damon and the man smiles and waves at him.

Stefan bursts into a grin and sprints over to Damon's side. "Hi! Mama and I brought clothes just in case because an even older you came by last week and we didn't anything for you to wear, so you had to hide until Mama could bring you some of Daddy's boring stuff and you said you hated it."

"Well, it's a good thing you have some stuff for me now," Damon says when Stefan stops for a breath of air, "Can I have my clothes now?"

Stefan is wriggling with excitement as he grabs Damon's hand and leads him to a tree three feet away. He points inside a little nook and Damon grabs the blue jeans, boots, and white tee out of it.

"Thank you, Stefan," Damon says seriously.

Stefan claps his hands over his eyes so Damon can change and says, "Let's go play with my friends!"

"Not today, Stef," Damon says, "How about we go see Mom?"

Stefan makes a disappointed noise and but Damon doesn't care too much. He'd like to go see their mother before the accident.

"We can go to the ice cream shop afterwards," Damon promises even though he's not sure how long he'll be in 1997. He taps Stefan on the shoulder and little boy turns around.

"Okay," Stefan says happily, "My favorite's Rocky Road."

"I know," Damon says and picks Stef up and puts him on his shoulders, "And next week it'll be chocolate."

"No!" Stefan gasps and Damon smiles.

"It's true," He says gravely as he starts to walk to their house. His 12 year old self was Traveling at that moment, having been watching little Stefan seconds before 24 year old Damon appeared.

The Boarding House isn't that far from the little park and so it only takes Damon fifteen minutes to walk there. The gardens are still being tended to by their mother, Damon can tell. Their father's classic BMW is gone from the drive, but their mother's motorcycle is parked in the open garage.

"Mom!" Damon calls, "I'm here!" The windows are open for spring cleaning, and Damon knows Mom will hear him; she always keeps an ear out.

Victoire Salvatore bustles out the front door with a beaming smile on her face, "My boys!"

Damon sweeps a giggling Stefan off of his shoulders and the little boy runs past their mom into the house where they can all hear the beagle puppy they'd just adopted barking. Victoire wraps her arms around Damon's tall form and lays her face against his shoulder.

"Where are you from?" She asks, "You're so big."

Damon smiles, "2009."

"Twenty-four," Victoire says appreciatively, "Have you found a girl, yet? I hope she's good to you."

Visions of his ex, Katherine, flash through his mind, but Damon shoves them out, "Oh, yes. She's lovely; you'd love her."

Victoire nods, "I'm glad; you need someone to keep you in line."

Damon and Victoire walk inside the Boarding House side by side to see Stefan rolling on the floor with the beagle puppy.

"Stefan Salvatore, you get up off of that dirty floor right now!" Victoire admonishes and Damon relishes the sound of his mother's voice.

**Damon is 30, Stefan is 7**

Damon opens his eyes and sees the ceiling of the Boarding House above him. He can hear the panting of the beagle their father had gotten Stefan and Damon when they were younger and the roaring of the fireplace.

Damon closes his eyes as he hears the door slam and knows that he'll watch it happen again. He heaves himself up into a sitting position in time to see Stefan run down the stairs.

"Damon!" Stefan beams, "Mom's taking us to the movies. Get dressed!" The beagle barks as if in encouragement and Damon gets up and puts a pillow in front of him.

"Where's little me?" Damon asks idly. He's never really seen himself back in time before, though he knows that he's missed himself by mere seconds before.

"He just Traveled," Stefan explains and whistles for the dog. "Here," he tosses some jeans and shirt to Damon, which smack him in the face.

"Thanks, Stefan," Damon says dryly.

"You're welcome!" Stefan is running up the stairs again, calling for their mother to hurry up.

Damon sets the pillow down and throws on his clothes slowly, reluctant to go with Stefan and their mom again. He observes the living room and sees old photos up again, and all of the ones with Lexi and Caroline and Elena and Jeremy gone.

"Damon, dear?" Victoire's voice calls him, and he looks up at her. The French woman has always been beautiful, but Damon thinks she looks better than she ever has on this night. "Stefan says you're coming with us. Damon was going to come, you know, but he disappeared. Do you know where he went?"

"He's with my girlfriend right now," Damon says, remembering now, "He'll be back the second I leave."

"That's reassuring," Victoire says and then Stefan appears at her side.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Stefan says impatiently, tugging at his mother's jacket hem.

"Okay, we're going," Victoire says indulgently and Damon follows obediently out to the car. Stefan wants to sit shot gun, but Damon's vehement that he sits in the back seat.

Victoire starts the car and they set out on the dark snowy road to Mystic Falls' only movie theater. Damon looks out the window worriedly, and shoots side long glances at his mom and brother. His fingers tap his thighs anxiously.

"Damon, sweetie, are you-" Victoire starts but never finishes. A semi attempts a U-Turn in front of them and the backend of the truck smacks his mother's side of the car. Bright lights burst in front of Damon's vision and he hears Stefan screaming in the back seat.

It goes dark.

**Damon is 30, Stefan is 34, Elena is 34**

Damon opens his eyes and is in bed with a screaming Elena.

"Damon, Damon, wake up, please," She's sobbing and Damon remembers that he's just been in the car accident with his mom and Stefan.

"I'm awake," He mutters through a sore throat and takes stock of his body; he's got a broken arm, he can feel and blood is running down his scalp.

"I called an ambulance," Stefan's voice says from the doorway to Damon and Elena's bedroom. Damon looks up and sees a much older Stefan. His forehead is wrinkled because of his currently furrowed eyebrows and his mouth is turned down in the corners.

"I'll be fine," Damon slurs and tries to wave off their concerns, "I've seen myself in the future, you guys see me in the future . . ." He trails off and starts to hack blood up.

He can hear the ambulance in the background and can feel Stefan and Elena's hands holding him up from the bed.

His world goes dark again.

**Damon 17, Stefan is 43, Caroline is 44**

One moment Damon is watching Stefan and their little beagle dog play fetch in their backyard and the next he's standing on a street corner in the buff.

He recognizes the street and heads towards the Boarding House, unashamed of his nakedness. He smirks and waves at women passing by, who gasp or point giggling at him. He recognizes his History teacher, Alaric Saltzman and waves at him.

The man is much older now, giving Damon a clue of the time period he's in now, and at that moment he's raising his eyebrows at Damon, shaking his head in exasperation. Damon smirks and picks up his pace.

He arrives at Boarding House and slips through the front door and up to his room. Damon goes straight to his closet and picks his clothes out, the ones the future him must have set aside for this occasion. He puts on his white tee and leather jacket, dark jeans and black boots.

Damon can smell Elena's lingering perfume and breaths it in, bringing a smile to his face.

He can hear feet trampling up the staircase and the door bursts open. Damon spun around and saw two giggling girls – one maybe ten and the other around seven. Both have oak leaf green eyes and curly blond hair.

"Hi Uncle Damon," They course and Damon waves his fingers at them. They burst into giggles again.

"Where are your mom and dad?" Damon asks them and the girls lead him back down the stairs into the kitchen where Stefan is at the stove making eggs and pancakes, while Caroline's sitting at the table, rubbing her distended stomach. They both look up at Damon's arrival and smile at him.

"Hey Damon," Caroline greets tiredly.

"Damon," Stefan greets, "God, you're young."

Damon smirks and sits at the table, putting his feet up. Both of the adults glower, but Damon just grins wider. "Where's Older Damon?"

"On his and Elena's third honeymoon," Stefan says distractedly.

"Third?" Damon's eyebrows rise.

"Uh huh," Caroline says.

They all hear a thundering of feet and then three dark haired children mob Damon. "Dad!"

Damon's seen his future kids once or twice, but he still gets surprised to see them. "Hey," He says and looks at them. The oldest is a smirking boy with Elena's brown eyes and Damon's slightly curly hair that's about thirteen. The middle one is a girl with blue eyes and pin straight hair about eleven, and the youngest is another little boy about six. He looks exactly like him, Damon notices.

He spends breakfast with his family and is content.

**Damon is 45, Stefan is 37,Elena is 37**

Damon knows that he dies young; he's known that for a long, long time. There were several clues through the years and his Travels; Older Stefan and Older Elena seem especially glad to see him than the younger ones do, though he's always been welcomed with open arms.

Stefan and Elena have never seen a Traveling Damon older than 45.

Damon takes a while to except this, but he does, eventually, like he except that his mom dies when he's 14.

He's wondered how it happens, but tries not to linger on it.

When it does, it's neither expected nor unexpected, really. He Travels into an open street one snowy evening and blinks against the bright lights of an incoming car. It hits him at 80 mph and his body Travels back to his own time, in his own house.

It's New Years Eve, and so appears in the middle of festivities. There's screaming and ambulances mentioned, but Damon knows that it's time.

Stefan's at his head, talking to him, but Damon can't understand what he's saying. Elena's on his other side, tears escaping her eyes. Damon forces his hands to grasp his brother and his wife's hands before he goes.

He smiles.

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tbc.

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	2. Stefan

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Time Traveler's Wife or The Vampire Diaries.**

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**The first time it happens, Stefan is three and his big brother has suddenly disappeared – only to be replaced by an even bigger version of him.**

**Or, six times Stefan Salvatore watched his brother Travel.**

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**Stefan is 3, Damon is 20**

Stefan is holding ten year old Damon's hand as he toddles next to him through their big backyard when Damon disappears, leaving a pile of clothing on the ground and a gaping Stefan behind. The three year olds green eyes well with tears and just as he opens his mouth to wail, a large hand settles itself onto his shoulder. He looks up to see a big man who looks just like Damon.

He sniffles. "Damon?"

The man's icy blue eyes warm and he smiles, "How'd you know?"

Stefan shrugs, "You look like him," and sticks his left thumb into his mouth. Damon smirks and hauls Stefan up and places him onto his hip.

"Where'd Other you go? Why are you here? Why are you so big?" Stefan starts to babble into Damon's ear, confused. The man says he's Damon and he believes him, but he's so big and people just don't disappear or grow or do whatever it was that Damon had just done.

"The other me went to visit with my friends; I'm a time traveler, and from the future, that's why I'm here and so big," Damon answers all of Stefan's questions that he peals out, leaving Stefan surprised, but satisfied.

"Where are we going now?" Stefan asks, wriggling in his brother's arms. He peers around them.

"Home," The big man answers simply, "Mom and Dad are there, right?"

Stefan nods, "Mama and Daddy are there, uh huh."

Damon ruffles his floppy hair, making the three year old scowl at him. Stefan took his thumb out of his mouth and frowned at his big brother. Shaking his finger at him, Stefan said, "Don't do that again."

Stefan watched as Damon threw his head back and laughed.

**Stefan is 30, Damon is 25**

Stefan is pacing out in the waiting room, checking his watch nervously every five minutes and twitching when Damon still doesn't reappear. Caroline is sitting in a hospital chair reading a magazine, Jeremy's next to her with his new girlfriend Anna, and Damon's still missing.

He hears a shriek and spins around.

Damon's Traveled back, but it's not the right Damon.

"You'll have to do," Stefan announced and goes to his wife's chair, where he gives him a duffle bag. Stefan takes it gratefully and pulls a confused twenty-five year old Damon into a bathroom.

"What's going on?" Damon is baffled, but he doesn't have time to be baffled.

"I'll catch you up," Stefan promises as he throws the duffle bag of clothing at Damon's head and shoves him in a stall, "You and Elena got married two years ago when you were thirty-five; you're thirty-seven now and Elena's giving birth to your first kid, a boy. This year's you Traveled five seconds after Elena's water broke, leaving her freaking out by herself. Hurry up, Damon, she's been asking for you!"

Damon bursts out of the stall gaping in dumb shock, but Stefan grabs his sleeve and pulls him out of the bathroom.

"Quickly, quickly, Elena's been in labor for ten hours now and is nearly all the way dilated," Stefan says hurriedly.

"How do you know how much my wife has dilated?" Damon asks as he wiggles his eyebrows.

Stefan rolls his eyes, "Real mature, Damon. Here." He shoves Damon towards a room door and can see Elena's face light up underneath the sweat and tears. Damon turns back and gives Stefan a thumbs up, and Elena mouths "Thank you," to him.

Stefan gives a half wave and returns to the waiting room where Caroline's waiting for him. He sits down and sighs, relieved.

"What'd I miss?" Stefan freezes and sees this year's Damon back, smirking tiredly, and Stefan groans.

**Stefan is 25, Damon is 21**

Stefan's making out with Caroline in his bedroom when he hears his brother land on the bedroom floor from Traveling.

"My eyes! My poor, delicate eyes!" He hears him moan, and Stefan groans in frustration. Caroline squawks as she and Stefan maneuver off of the bed. She shields her eyes from Damon's nudity.

"Hey, I'm sure I'm better looking than he is," Damon drawls as Stefan throws a throw blanket at him.

"Go get dressed," Stefan commands and Damon winks as he pops out the door. Stefan turns to Caroline with an apology on his lips, but Caroline just shakes her head.

"It's fine," She insists, though her eyes tell a different story, "Go mind your brother so he doesn't make the house fall down. We all know what he's like when he's bored." Caroline pushes Stefan out of the room, and the man obeys, walking to Damon's room down the hall.

He knocks and enters when Damon calls out, and crosses his arms. "Hey. Where are you from?"

"2006," Damon answers, "And I'm legal now! Let's get drunk." He smirks broadly.

"Drinking makes you Travel," Stefan says with one eyebrow raised and smirks with amusement as Damon's face turns into an expression of furious shock.

"What the hell? That's not fair!"

Stefan shrugs with amusement, "Elena likes it."

Damon mutters darkly about his girlfriend for several minutes. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Well, I'm on break from school," Stefan says, "It's my last year and then I'll officially be a doctor. You Traveled yesterday and haven't returned yet and Elena's been itching to see you. Or I'm sure your favorite teacher would love a visit from his best student."

Damon points at Stefan, "I was not Alaric's best student."

"No, you're right, I was," Stefan smiles cheekily and dodges a pillow thrown at his head.

Damon sighs and brushes passed Stefan, and heads down to the living room. Stefan follows him quickly and arrives just in time to see Damon drinking anyway.

Damon smirks, "See? I don't Travel when I'm dru-" He disappears, leaving a pool of his clothing on the floor and the glass of bourbon drops to the floor and shatters.

Caroline's head pops around the corner of the staircase, smirking, "He drank again, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Stefan sighs and he goes to clean up the mess.

"You know that means we can go back upstairs . . ." Caroline trails off and Stefan decides to leave the mess for a few minutes more.

**Stefan is 87, Damon is 25**

Stefan maneuvers around with his cane, cursing when he stubs his foot into a book that's been left in the middle of the floor. He attempts to stoop down, and catches the title, "The Call of the Wild." A hand stops him from bending down at the way.

"Easy, old timer, let me get that," A voice says loudly and Stefan straightens up, rubbing his ear.

"I'm old, not deaf, Damon," He complains, and looks at his brother. His youngest nephew's the spitting image of his father, but Stefan can always tell them apart.

"Sorry, Gramps," Damon laughs and picks up the book, "This is my favorite."

"Yeah, and it's your kid's favorite too, and your grandkid's," Stefan grumbles, "I wouldn't mind, 'cept they always leave it on the floor for me to trip over. Bratty kids."

Damon laughs again and goes to help Stefan sit down. Stefan doesn't have any of it though, and swats Damon's hand away, "Bah! I've don't need anybody's help to sit my own ass down on my own damn couch."

Damon backs off, smirking, and says, "Man, you are one batty old guy, Stef. I can't wait to tell my Stefan about you."

"Where are you from, anyway?" Stefan asks, settling down and sighing with relief. His creaking joints were really bothering him that day.

"I'm from 2010, Grampy Stef," Damon hops over the edge of the couch and sits next to Stefan, "Where's the current me?"

Stefan's memory flashes to the day his Damon died, and he replies vaguely, "Traveling. Elena and Caroline are with the grandkids down at the park."

"What are you doing here by yourself?" Stefan can hear the concern leak into Damon's voice and quickly moves to distract him.

"Wanted some peace and quiet, that's why. Bratty kids are here all day and night, animals running around gold fish bowls being spilled, bourbon bottles being broken; it's a miracle this old house is still standing," Stefan knows if he rambles long enough, Damon will indulge him and move on.

"Alright, alright, you're old and need time to yourself," Damon teases, "I get it."

Stefan doesn't think he does, but that's okay.

**Stefan is 7, Damon is 34**

Stefan sniffles as he pumps his legs on the swings, trying not to think of his mother. His stitches in his stomach pull a little; a reminder of the car accident.

Someone joins him on the swing next to him, and they start pumping their legs in sync with Stefan's.

"Hey," The man greets and Stefan turns his head to see a Traveler Damon.

"Hi," Stefan greets quietly.

"It gets better," Damon doesn't need to elaborate; he knows. He always knows.

"Really?" Stefan doesn't ask how he knows, because Damon is always going to the future and the future Damon's are always coming here. He probably knows everything.

"Yeah. And we move on. You get a pretty girlfriend and so do I," Damon says.

Stefan crinkles his nose, "I don't want a girlfriend."

"Yeah, yeah," Damon waves a hand, "You say that now."

"But I mean it," Stefan insists, green eyes wide as he turns his head to look at Damon.

The darker headed man rolls his eyes, "Okay, Stefan."

They swing in silence.

"Dad's been being mean," Stefan says eventually. He sees Damon's hands tighten on the metal chains of the swing.

"I know," Damon repeats, "I know, but it gets better."

"Okay," Stefan says, because he's pretty sure Damon knows everything.

**Stefan is 37, Elena is 37, Damon is 45**

Stefan's always known that Damon will die young, but he's tried to ignore the fact. There have been clues, of course; none of Damon's Traveling counterparts have ever been older than forty-something.

But the night it happens, Stefan is still surprised.

It's New Year's Eve and the whole family is gathered – Caroline and Stefan's children are one and four, and Damon and Elena's kids are a little bit older than that. Jeremy's over with his wife Bonnie, and their friends Matt and Tyler are there with their wives and children.

Damon's standing with them one second, and then he's gone. He Travels back twenty minutes later looking like he'd been run over by two semis and golf cart. The bleeding wouldn't stop and Elena was crying. Caroline was ushering their friends and the kids out of the room while Stefan calls 911.

"Hold on, Damon, you've got to hold on," Stefan says once he's hung up. He grasps Damon's hand in his and sees Elena do the same on his other side.

Damon smiles and his eyes slide shut one last time.

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	3. Giuseppe

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Time Traveler's Wife or The Vampire Diaries.**

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**The first time his boy disappears, Giuseppe's not there. He's not there the last time, either.**

**Or, five times Giuseppe can't deal with his Traveling son and the one time that he does.**

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**Damon is 6**

Giuseppe is sitting in his home office, working on paperwork from the law firm when he hears his wife scream in horrified surprise. His sharp blue eyes look up from behind his glasses and he gathers his feet from underneath him and launches himself up and sprints through his door. Giuseppe runs down the hall and arrives in Damon's doorway to see Victoire kneeling on the ground with her arms wrapped around Damon's little form, shaking.

"What happened?" He barks and tries not to wince at the volume of his own voice. When Victoire doesn't look up, he snaps, "Victoire! Che cosa è successo?"

He can't help but revert to his native language when stressed; his accent slips on occasions when he's irritated, but he must be furious to yell in Italian.

His French wife looks up and wipes her green eyes with the backs of her hands. "He just disappeared, Giuseppe, he just disappeared and came back!"

"What?" Giuseppe thinks he's misheard.

"Il a tout simplement disparu, je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé , » Victoire slips into her own tongue as well.

Giuseppe looks at his son staring up at him with the eyes that they share and he kneels next to him, taking Damon's slim shoulders into his palms, "Where did you go, Damon?"

"I met my little brother," Damon says blinking owlishly.

"You don't have a little brother," Giuseppe nearly growls. He's confused and a million thoughts are flying through his head; too many to keep track of.

"I will," Damon says it so self-assuredly that Giuseppe almost believes him.

As it is, Giuseppe dismisses both his wife and son, making himself believe that they'd both been imagining things do to the late hour.

**Damon is 6; three days later**

Giuseppe is in his office again, balancing the books this time, when he hears Damon enter his office. The little boy closes the door quietly, just as he was taught, and he comes and slips into the chair sitting across from Giuseppe's large oak desk.

"Daddy?" Damon asks.

"Dad," Giuseppe absent mindedly corrects, "You're not a bambino anymore, Damon."

"Dad," Damon says and Giuseppe sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, briefly closing his eyes. When he opens them again, he sees Damon looking at him innocently.

"What is it, Damon?" He asks tiredly, "I have to work."

His little boy opens his mouth and disappears in thin air.

Startled, Giuseppe blinks once. Twice.

Damon's still gone, but he notices that there's a pile of the clothes he'd been wearing four seconds ago on the chair. Giuseppe stands slowly and his quick blue eyes sweep his office and they narrow when he can't find Damon.

"Damon, come out now," He snaps, "I'm not playing any games with you this afternoon. I will start counting. One. Two. Three."

On the fifth second, Damon reappears standing behind his chair. Giuseppe grips his chest in shock and he nearly falls back into his chair.

Damon peers at him curiously.

"What – what- where did you go?" Giuseppe feels compelled to ask.

Damon's eyes narrow, "Are you going to believe me now?"

Giuseppe only nods once, quickly and sharply.

Damon smiles then, and says, "I met Mama in the future; she was gardening with baby Stefan."

Giuseppe's heart stutters, but he believes Damon this time. "Go run along; find your mother and play with her for the afternoon, alright Damon?"

Damon nods and scoops up his clothes, springing away. As soon as he's gone, Giuseppe sits back at his desk and immediately picks up his date book and the phone; he'll call every specialist in the world if he has to, but Giuseppe _will_ find a way to fix his son.

**Damon is 7**

When Victoire announces she's pregnant, Giuseppe still finds himself surprised. They find an OB/GYN – one of the best, and nineteen weeks in, they find out that it's a boy.

While Giuseppe was with Victoire for every step of the way when she was pregnant with Damon, he finds himself only going to one out of every five appointments for this baby. He's busy talking to doctors and scientists, trying to find someone, anyone that might have done research something similar to Damon's . . . problem. He finally finds a geneticist, a man called Dr. Kendrick. Giuseppe calls him and explains the situation and at first the doctor says nothing.

"I thought it was a once in a century mutation," Dr. Kendrick finally says.

"What?" Giuseppe demands.

"I met a man – several times in fact – who could travel through time. It's a genetic disorder that we called Chrono-Displacement. It's a mutation in the genes and is hereditary once it's formed. The man I met eventually had a daughter who was Traveling from the time of her birth. I didn't think I'd ever meet anyone else with the same disorder as those two," Dr. Kendrick explained.

"Is it curable?" Giuseppe demands.

The doctor sighs, "No."

Furious, Giuseppe slams the phone down in its cradle and rubs his face with his hands tiredly.

"Giuseppe?" Victoire asks from the door. Giuseppe looks up at his wife who's rubbing her 28 week pregnant belly. "What did you find out?"

"It can't be cured," Giuseppe hisses, "It's some sort of genetic mutation called Chrono-Displacement and it can't be cured."

Victoire sighs, but nods firmly a moment later. "Then we'll deal with it."

"Deal with it?" Giuseppe asks incredulously. The vein on his forehead is throbbing and he can feel a migraine building up behind his eyes. "Our son is a freak of nature! He'll never be normal or lead a normal life! How do you deal with something like this?"

Victoire's lips thin and her hands automatically cradle their unborn son as if to protect him. "We'll deal with it," She repeats more firmly.

Giuseppe's eyes shoot down to the unborn boy and they widen, "What if . . ." He swallows thickly, "What if he's just like Damon?"

"Then we'll love him just the same. Honestly," Victoire spits, "What is the matter with you? They're your sons, and if you don't get yourself together . . ." She never finishes her sentence, choosing instead to storm out of the office.

But Giuseppe knows what she would have said; it hangs in the silence, looming over him forebodingly.

**Damon is 14 and 33**

Giuseppe eventually calls Dr. Kendrick back to get specifics about Damon's disorder. He finds out several things; stress and alcohol can cause Damon to Travel, but exercise and being occupied can keep him grounded in a single time period.

Still, he can Travel at any time, and they're unpredictable too.

Giuseppe keeps an eye on Stefan starting from the time of his birth to make sure the child doesn't have the same genetic disorder. When he's seven years old, a year older than when Damon first started to Travel, Giuseppe lets up. He and his wife have become distant with each other, and it gets worse the more Giuseppe searches for a cure and simultaneously pushes his family away from him.

Then the accident happens.

Victoire is killed on impact; Stefan receives a head injury; Damon is nearly unscathed, having Traveled at the last second before the semi impacted Giuseppe's classic BMW.

Giuseppe gets the call while he's at work one snowy day.

"Is this Giuseppe Salvatore?"

"Yes, this is he," Giuseppe says, frowning.

"My condolences on your loss; your wife and your two sons were in a car accident on the road three hours ago. Your wife, Victoire, was killed immediately and your sons are in the hospital. We need you to come down at once," The EMT says quietly, his voice soothing.

Giuseppe's vision tunnels and it takes an associate shaking his shoulder to wake him back up into the real world.

"I'm coming," He hears himself mumble. He can't for the life of him remember how he drove to Mystic Falls' only major hospital.

"Where are they?" He demands as soon as he's been identified, "Dove sono?"

"This way, sir," A young nurse leads Giuseppe to a two person room where Damon and Stefan are lying in hospital beds. Damon is staring at the TV blankly, and Stefan is fast asleep, whatever pain medicine they have him on knocking him out.

Giuseppe says nothing as he walks slowly over to their beds, standing motionless in between them. He stares at his children.

It doesn't sink in that his wife is dead until Stefan is released from the hospital and Giuseppe is driving them home. There's a missing person from their little family, and her absence is painful.

The weeks following are full of funeral plans and avoidance; Giuseppe does both. He hardly sees either of his sons unless he's yelling at them for a mess, and he knows that Damon will probably never forgive him for smacking him straight across the face.

Stefan bursts into tears and Damon hurries the seven year old away, glaring nastily at their father. Giuseppe sighs heads back towards his office, but detours towards Victoire's art room. The French woman had been a stay at home mother who painted and gardened, and had one room special for her art.

Giuseppe opens the door a little and steps inside, and just stares.

"She was an amazing artist," A dry voice behind him says and Giuseppe whirls around to see an adult Damon standing there in a leather jacket, dark jeans and boots, and a white tee shirt while his hands are shoved into his pockets. The man's face is pale and angular; his eyes are a matching set to Giuseppe's own, while his dark hair has a distinct curl to the edges, reminding him painfully of Victoire.

"She was," Giuseppe says hoarsely.

Damon's icy eyes don't give anything away as they travel around the room, dancing from painting to painting.

"You end up stashing all of these in the attic, you know," He says finally, "But Stef and I pull a few when you move out to your old place in Venice."

"I move back?" Giuseppe asks, hardly daring to breathe as he watches this man who masquerades as his son.

"Yes," Damon nods his head and turns his attention to his father, "I'm really happy when you do; you're not an easy person to get along with."

Giuseppe can't help but chuckle blackly at that, "I know that. You think I don't know that? And you're just like me."

"I'm not," Damon snarls, "I'm not like you."

"Of course not," Giuseppe lets it go. A second later, Damon disappears, leaving his clothes in a pool where he'd been standing.

"Of course not," Giuseppe repeats.

**Damon was 45**

Giuseppe gets a call one day in Venice that his son was killed in a car accident.

He drinks himself into a stupor and stays drunk until the funeral two weeks later, which he finds out Stefan planned with help from Damon's wife, Elena. It's held in Mystic Falls and Damon's buried in one of the plots that Giuseppe bought when he and Victoire had first moved to Virginia all those years ago.

He looks at his grandkids that he's only met once each and it hurts to look at Damon's youngest boy; it hurts worse to know that he can't remember his name.

**Giuseppe is an old man**

The first time that Giuseppe meets one of Damon's Traveling selves while the man's actually been dead for years, he nearly drops in a dead faint. The boy that had popped in was only 7, and was smiling cheerily at his father.

"Hi Dad!" Damon beams.

"Hi son," Giuseppe says faintly.

"Where are we?" Damon asks a moment later, confused as he looks around Giuseppe's villa.

"Venice," Giuseppe finally gets out, "Where are you from?"

"Stefan was just born a couple of months ago and he won't stop crying, so Mama's really cranky and so are you," Damon explains, "Can I have something to eat?"

"Sure," Giuseppe says and leads the little boy into the kitchen, "Wait here while I get you a blanket or something." He finds a small throw blanket and tucks it around Damon's shoulders and makes the kid a peanut butter sandwich.

Damon eats it up and Giuseppe fidgets.

"You want to get some ice cream?" He finally asks and he can't help but smile at the brilliant smile that light up Damon's face.

"Yeah!"

"Alright," Giuseppe says and lets a small smile of his own appear on his lips, "What's your favorite this week?"

"Chocolate chip," Damon confides.

"Mine too," Giuseppe says, pretending to be surprised, "But before we go, I'm going to go see if I can't find you some clothes."

"No pink," Damon commands, "Because that's for girls."

"Of course not," Giuseppe says, "Absolutely no pink. But you'd better come up with me to make sure I don't pick up the wrong thing. My eyes are going bad, you know."

"Okay."

* * *

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